Famous deaths
2018 – Chas Hodges (b. 1943), English musician and singer. He was the lead vocalist, pianist and guitarist of the musical duo Chas & Dave.
On This Day 2025
Hello, … Welcome to day 267 of the year.

Wednesday, September 24th Daily Prep.

Known as Bollywood Day, National Punctuation Day and Lash Stylist Day. Your star sign is Libra and your birthstone is Sapphire.
2009 – The UK’s largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. The hoard, containing almost 4,000 objects and fragments of war-gear, is thought to have been buried in the 7th century in the Kingdom of Mercia.
The UK’s largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. The hoard, containing almost 4,000 objects and fragments of war-gear, is thought to have been buried in the 7th century in the Kingdom of Mercia.
Today’s birthdays
1954 – Helen Lederer (71), British comic actress (Absolutely Fabulous – “Catriona”), and writer (Losing It), born in Carmarthen, Wales.
1959 – Theo Paphitis (66), Cypriot-born British businessman (Dragon’s Den, Millwall Football Club), born in Limassol, Cyprus.
1961 – Jack Dee (64), English stand-up comedian, actor (Lead Balloon), presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour, born in Bromley, Greater London.
1962 – Ally McCoist (63), Scottish former footballer (Rangers, Scotland), manager and TV pundit, born in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
1965 – Robert Irvine (60), English-American celebrity chef and talk show host (Restaurant: Impossible, The Robert Irvine Show, Dinner: Impossible), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
1976 – Stephanie McMahon (49) American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler (WWE 1998 – 2023), born in Hartford, Connecticut, United States.
1980 – Victoria Pendleton (45), English former track cyclist (Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champion), born in Stotfold, Bedfordshire.
Famous deaths
1991 – Dr. Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel in (b. 1904), American children’s author, illustrator, animator, and cartoonist. A well known work being The Grinch.
The day today
1942 – The birth of Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers. In 1963 he reached the UK No.1 with his record ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, now the anthem of Liverpool Football Club. Marsden died on the 3rd January 2021 aged 78.
1952 – Colonel Sanders opened the first KFC franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah with his first franchisee, Pete Harman. Harman coined the famous marketing slogan “Finger Lickin’ Good”.

1957 – BBC Television for schools began airing in the afternoon. The first programme was Living in the Commonwealth – on life in British Columbia. The rest of the first week continued to show the wider world outside the classroom, with Science Helps the Doctor, Spotlight on the Middle East, and Young People at Work.

1967 – The two ‘Queens’ of the Cunard Line, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, passed each other in the Atlantic for the last time.
1971 – Over 100 Russian diplomats were expelled from Britain for spying, following revelations made by a Soviet defector.
1975 – The world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, was successfully scaled for the first time via its southwest face by British climbers Dougal Haston and Doug Scott.
2009 – The UK’s largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said that it was a metal detectorist’s dream. Experts said that the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size and worth “a seven-figure sum”.
2017 – Large pieces of plastic polystyrene were found in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Many were confused about how the debris had ended up 1,000 miles away from the North Pole.
2019 – The Supreme Court concluded, unanimously, that Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue (suspend) Parliament for 5 weeks prior to Britain leaving the EU was unlawful. On that basis, the court ruled that ” ….. Parliament would remain in session as if it had never stopped”.
Today in music
1957 – The Elvis Presley classic, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was released. It became his ninth US number one single and stayed on the Billboard chart for nineteen weeks. The film clip from the movie where he sang the song is considered by many historians to be the first rock video.
1975 – Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sailing’ a cover of the Sutherland Brothers 1972 song. The track became a hit after it was used as the theme song for Sailor, a documentary series on HMS Ark Royal, which BBC1 aired in the UK.
1983 – Culture Club had their second UK No.1 single with ‘Karma Chameleon’, which stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and became the best-selling single of 1983. The harmonica part was played by Judd Lander, who had been a member of Merseybeat group The Hideaways in the 1960s.

1988 – The Hollies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ after the song was used on a UK TV beer commercial (Miller Lite), the song was originally a hit in 1969 and featured a young Elton John on piano.

1991 – Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at No. 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at No. 1 in January 1992 has now sold over 30m copies world wide.
2000 – Madonna started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Music’, the singers seventh UK No.1 album.
2006 – Scissor Sisters topped the UK album and singles charts. The New Yorkers’ second album, ‘Ta-Dah’, entered in the top spot, while the single ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ spent a third week at number one.
2012 – Mumford & Sons released their second studio album ‘Babel’ which debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and was nominated in the category of “Album of the Year” for both a Brit Award and Grammy Award, winning the latter.
Today in history
1564 – The birth, in Gillingham, of William Adams, the English navigator who travelled to Japan and is believed to be the first Englishman ever to reach the country. Adams was the inspiration for the character of John Blackthorne in James Clavell’s best selling novel Shōgun.
1645 – The Battle of Rowton Heath took place some 2 miles to the south-east of Chester. The Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army, commanded in person by King Charles, prevented Charles from relieving the Siege of Chester. It is alleged that King Charles stood on Phoenix Tower in Chester and saw his army defeated in battle.
1776 – The oldest of the British classic horse races, the St Leger, was run for the first time at Doncaster Racecourse.
1841 – The Sultan of Brunei rewarded British adventurer James Brooke by granting him control of Sarawak. Sarawak is located in the northwestern part of the island of Borneo. Brooke was given this land for helping to put an end to a civil war.
1853 – Liverpools’ Northern Daily Times became England’s first provincial daily newspaper.